Business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Business environment - Essay Example One of the top companies in the banking industry according to the FTSE 100 listing is the Barclays bank, an institution that has had a fair share of opportunities and challenges, but still remain on top of other multinationals (Dash & Das, 2013). Barclays bank is a British based banking multinational that has continued to dominate the banking industry in not only the United Kingdom or Europe, but also other continents of the world. Based in London, United Kingdom, Barclays bank was categorised into the universal bans category due to its widespread presence in most countries and regions in the world. Today, the bank operates in over 50 countries with over 48 million customers evenly spread in different sectors of the world economy. The great performance and dominance of the company has been attributed to its cluster categorisation, which provides customers with a wide range of banking services (Barclays Bank, 2013). Barclays bank currently boosts three major divisions made up of the corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and the retail and business category. Barclays bank was established in 1690 by James Barclay and has grown to be a major force in the industry through partnerships, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions. For example, the backhouse’s bank and the gurney bank formed a partnership with the company and this strengthened not only its capital base but also the market presence in the country. The great performance of Barclays bank has stood out significantly and this has been attributed to the proper management and customer care approaches it has adopted. According to an annual report released by the company in 2011, the company’s solid position improved by 11% tier one ratio. This was accompanied by a  £161 billion pounds improvement in the liquidity pool of the company relative to the figures that the company posted in the previous financial year.

Tesco Customer Experience Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tesco Customer Experience - Case Study Example People believe that they the company can use its size and success to be a force for good. This challenge is indeed accepted by Tesco with enthusiasm and commitment. Consumers identify a brand's distinctive capabilities based on their perceptions that have themselves been created by the marketers over a period of time. A genuine brand is "the internalized sum of all the impressions received by the customers and consumers resulting in a distinctive position in their mind's eye based on perceived emotional and functional benefits" (Knapp). A brand, in general, conveys certain aspects like attributes, benefits, values, culture, personality and user. According to a recent study, Tesco is believed to have the strongest brand image online and this fact is clearly visible from its official website. Tesco implemented the Club card rewards program to gather necessary customer information, which it then used to cater to specific customer needs and potential wants. When shoppers signed up for the card, they automatically submitted their age, gender, and income. Tesco was able to segment their shoppers based on these factors. As soon as the shopper used the card when shopping online or in-store, purchased product information was automatically uploaded into Tesco database. Product information was used to cross-sell additional products and services such as grocery delivery services. This way, Tesco strives continuously to keep all its customers satisfied and ensure quality shopping every time they visit the store or the website. A new strength that has been adopted among the staff at Tesco stores is called future, instead of having criteria to meet every store, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are discussed with staff in each store and problem are sorted out, making each stores SWOT that little bit different, although the main goals are not ignored. Another ploy on Tesco's behalf to win the customers loyalty it that of vouchers for schools a scheme where one voucher I given for every five pounds that is spent in store, not only does this encourage adults to help their children but will make the children encourage the adults to shop at Tesco's to help their school. Tesco as a company uses clear values to underpin what they do. Their core purpose is based on "Creating value for our customers to earn their life time loyalty. Tesco has invested one billion pounds. Tesco believes in one important thing, i.e. they offer the best quality on a broad range of products and believe that they offer the best value. They have invested one billion pounds since 1996 on the campaign to reduce prices to customers and that continues to build as they go in to 2004. They offer outstanding customer service; every customer is offered help at the checkout. Location and convenience is another reason to choose Tesco, they have introduced a staggering 200 in the last two years that stay open 24 hours a day and they plan another 1540 new express stores, which are Tesco mini stores linked on to esso garages and forecourts. Another key